Book Publishing Industry Survey Reveals Strong Growth in Revenue, Units
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, DC—August 10, 2011—“BookStats,” the deepest, most comprehensive statistical survey ever conducted of the modern U.S. publishing industry—capturing its size, scope, revenue and rapid strategic expansion across multiplatform content and sales distribution channels—has been published.
Spanning 2008-2010, “BookStats” offers data and analysis of the total industry and the individual trade, K-12 school, higher education, professional and scholarly markets. Produced jointly by the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group, its highlights include:
Overall U.S. publishing revenues are growing.—Publishers’ net sales revenue has grown annually; 2010’s $27.94 billion is a 5.6 percent increase over 2008.
Overall U.S. publishing unit sales up.—Publishers’ 2.57 billion net units sold in 2010 represent a 4.1 percent increase since 2008.
Americans, young and old, are reading actively in all print and digital formats.—2010 total net sales revenue in the consumer-focused Trade market is $13.94 billion, increasing 5.8 percent since 2008 (and excluding 2011’s e-book sales surge). Both adult fiction and juvenile (non-fiction and fiction) have seen consistent annual gains.
Education publishing holds steady and, in some segments, shows solid growth.—Higher Education’s $4.5 Billion net sales revenue for 2010 represents a significant 23.1 percent increase over 2008. K-12 School, the industry’s second largest category by net sales dollar volume, reached $5.5 Billion revenue in 2010.
Professional and scholarly publishing shows gains.—The professional market’s $3.7 Billion net sales revenue was +6.3 percent over 2008. Scholarly publishing experienced 4.7 percent growth since 2008, with $191 Million net sales revenue for 2010.
“The ‘BookStats’ study indicates that the publishing industry is healthy and growing during a time of unprecedented change,” said Dominique Raccah, Founder and CEO, Sourcebooks and Chair of the BookStats Committee. “Publishers in every sector of our business have made significant investments in content and technology to better serve their audiences’ needs and those efforts seem to correlate with the results we’re seeing.”
“BookStats” examines the industry from three distinct angles: by publishing categories, publishing formats and sales distribution channels.
More highlights about:
- overall publishing
- publishing categories including breakdowns of fiction and non-fiction
- publishing formats including hardcover, paperback, e-books, internet and bundled products and services
- distribution channels including physical and online retail, independents, export sales, wholesalers/jobbers and institutional sales
“BookStats” includes source data from nearly 2,000 publishers, plusadditional databases and resources.
The complete “BookStats” survey is available for purchase along with a supplemental online dashboard enabling customization of the data.
About the Association of American Publishers
AAP is the national trade association representing 300 premier U.S. publishers of high-quality entertainment, education, professional and scholarly content, produced using the most current technology, reaching the world. For more information, visit www.publishers.org. BISG is the leading U.S. book trade association for standardized best practices, research and education about publishing; its membership includes publishers, retailers, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and librarians. For more information, visit www.bisg.org
Source: AAP.